Personally I like the idea of a lich being a patron, preferably one who has little to no ability to act physically. You apprentice under them so long as you're fulfilling your patron's wishes, be it finding the means to re-open their imprisoned/entomed phylactery, maintaining their lair (general housekeeping such as setting traps, allowing cobwebs to spread, casting Thunderwave to scare villagers within 300ft., etc.), and/or eliminating rivals and stealing their tomes and other magical artefacts.
A vampire patron could be fairly straight forward: you're cattle, but you're cattle which shows promise. You let them feed upon you, or people you direct to the vampire (perhaps using that high Charisma stat....), and in return they bestow upon you powers.
As @PenelopeTheWeaver suggests, a mummy lord seems like a good choice too. It goes hand in hand with the Archeologist background, and being bound to their service for disturbing their eternal slumber (or being their eyes and ears while they remain in their tomb.)
I believe that the thing about undead entities like these, as opposed to the 'core' three in the Player's Handbook, is that they might get paranoid as you advance in power. What happens when the student is ready to surpass the master? This could lead to a (perhaps unexpected, if your patron takes initiative) showdown with your patron, and should you survive, you might be able to use their power to become your own patron (see Vampire: The Masquerade's 'diablerie'), or enslave them. This would probably be DM dependent, so maybe run it by them when you're nearing demigod/god levels.
This is just a general look at a subclass I'm not overly familiar with, so do forgive the discrepancies. I hope it serves as a modicum of inspiration, but you'd need to do your own digging (maybe literally in your character's case).
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
Just to go a little left field with it, why go for the powerful types?
I have always liked the Allip from Mordenkainens Tome of Foes, its only a CR5 undead but the fluff of it is that it was a creature that stumbled upon a powerful secret and was cursed, it now goes around trying to relieve itself of the curse by sharing secrets and knowledge. So perhapsthe Allip was in life a powerful caster of some description and the Warlock is just some unlucky soul that stumbled upon the Allip and has been imparted with some of its previous magical knowledge/secrets which manifest as spell casting and invocations.The Allip watches from the Shadowfell and every time the Warlock levels up you could have hte Allip manifest out of the Warlocks shadow, whisper in the Warlocks ear and then disappear again. THis could give a good spooky vibe and give the DM some interesting options to play with.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
Your patron is a wizard who was too wrapped up in their studies and experiments to notice that they'd died of old age. Your arcane focus was their arcane focus, and when you found it their spirit appeared and began bossing you around as though you were some new apprentice, but they begrudgingly "teach" you things now and then that don't really make any sense but somehow manifest as new spells and abilities anyway. Necrotic energy leaks out of the focus, causing your Form of Dread and such, and while sometimes you think you're simply a wizard with an unconventional mentor, at other times you admit to yourself most of your powers aren't actually "magic" in the traditional, learn-it-from-a-book sense. Their demands are bizarre and random, and usually seem tied to fetching components or materials for some experiment that half the time they've forgotten about once you do acquire them.
You don't know what would happen if they realized they were deceased -- would they move on to the afterlife and take your powers with them? Would they get angry and try to punish the messenger? Would they accept it and embrace their new existence? You're afraid to find out.
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Your patron doesn't need to actually be undead. For example, your patron could be Orcus, but you're getting Undead benefits from him, rather than Fiend. Myrkul is at the bottom rank of deity, but could certainly provide benefits along these lines, rather than supporting a cleric.
So I've had an idea for a warlock that maybe I'll play in some future campaign, maybe.
So he's from some far off society similar in culture to ancient Egypt. He was a servant of the Pharaoh. Nothing high level, just maybe a scribe or a guard or something. Well, the Pharaoh had ambitions to become a Mummy Lord after his death. And he succeeded. But that was a looooong time ago. The Mummy Lord has long since been entombed, and many of his servants - including our plucky little PC - were embalmed and entombed with him to continue to serve him in death. Centuries later some grave robbers discovered this ancient forgotten tomb and stole some shiny relics and such. So the Mummy Lord awakened some of his servants, gifted each of them with certain powers, and sent them out into the world to find the shinies, to return the shinies, and to kill the thieves.
So that explains why he is now wandering around the world. That gives him a clear motivation. And maybe the DM can tie it into the campaign by assuming that some of the shinies were stolen for - or ended up in the hoard of - the BBEG of the campaign. When the warlock assumes his "Form of Dread", his skin looks very sunken and desiccated, and his clothing appears like old dry torn wrappings of cloth, like those used in his embalming.
I’ve always been interested in Larloch, personally…he has an amusing history.
Is that how it's spelled? We have an Undying Warlock (basically just a vastly inferior version of the Undead subclass) in my current campaign, and in my notes I have his name written as "Larlock". I'm not sure how closely my DM is playing him to the established lore or if she just took the name and wrote her own character around it... I've deliberately avoided looking up information about him because I want to avoid metagaming. Anyway, it's been a very interesting dynamic to observe between the Warlock and her patron, and the growing conflict between the two has become a central part of the story, and we're not totally sure or not but he might just straight up be the final boss of our campaign.
I’ve always been interested in Larloch, personally…he has an amusing history.
Is that how it's spelled? We have an Undying Warlock (basically just a vastly inferior version of the Undead subclass) in my current campaign, and in my notes I have his name written as "Larlock". I'm not sure how closely my DM is playing him to the established lore or if she just took the name and wrote her own character around it... I've deliberately avoided looking up information about him because I want to avoid metagaming. Anyway, it's been a very interesting dynamic to observe between the Warlock and her patron, and the growing conflict between the two has become a central part of the story, and we're not totally sure or not but he might just straight up be the final boss of our campaign.
Yup, that’s the spelling.
He’s a very effective lich…not as egomaniacal as, say, Vecna or Acererak…but more subtle.
He is also quite respectful of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra…even apologizing to her when one of his experiments got out of hand.
There is always Vlaakith, Lich Queen of the Githyanki as well who could be a good patron for the adventuring sort. You wouldn;t necassarily need to be a Githyanki, you might just be someone captured in a Githyanki raid into the material plane and now serve as more of a spy or agent, or if you want to be Githyanki then maybe you are trying to recover, or earn the right to wield, a Githyanki Silver Sword.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
At the age of 15, Angel began hunting for the Circle. The circle is composed of mostly Druids, but does contain some Ranger types. She caught on quickly and was a very well respected hunter. She significantly helped sustain the entire Circle with meat. At the Age of 18, and because she was such an exceptional hunter, she was invited into the Ranger ranks within the Circle. It was her proudest moment. She has two loving parents, a brother, a sister, and a crush on the boy next door. Life was perfect...was.... Her circle considerers the undead and weres abominations. Werewolf, werebear, wereboar, werebat...you name it. You're either a wolf....or you are humanoid...not both, and sure as shit not both at the same time. Her Circle also considers the undead "freaks of nature" and that they should be destroyed. Her first "mission" as a Ranger was to scout. Simply go out into the wild...watch...observe...report back. Angel started tracking what she thought was a werebear...It's a big werebear (the excitement grew)...there are two werebears...hot damn!, she's tracking a pod now! She's surprisingly knocked to the ground...on her back...defenseless. Her bow is just an anchor...it's in the way. The fight for her life has begun. The werebears coordinated their assault...tearing flesh from bone. Consuming her body as if a frantic last meal. One latched on to her face. They exchanged breath. She tasted her own blood. She began to drown in saliva and mucus. In her most desperate hour of existence...time stopped...the pain subsided...and the...the... Who are you?... An imp appeared. Reddish burnt skin, lumbering nose, pointed ears, pointed tail, pointed...everything.... The imp briefly introduced himself. All she remembered is that it stated with a "G". (OH!, she will know him when she sees him again!) The imp offered a contract. Make the pain stop. Make the carnage stop. Make the loss of flesh stop. Make everything stop and exact immediate revenge on your aggressors...RIGHT NOW!....but for only a small price to pay... Tit...for tat... My lord saves you...you do him a favor one day...whatever...whenever..., the imp read... The imp hastily read over the contract and offered the quill... Sign, or die... The imp began counting down as if he controlled time himself. The imp allowed a second of time to pass to remind Angel of the pain. THE IMP IS A PAWN! He's not controlling this! BUT!, he holds the one piece of parchment that does. Angel took the quill, signed her name, and closed her eyes as if bracing for impact. Her body became rigid with anticipation. It didn't take long... The most hellish rebuke ever witnessed flowed through her wounds. The werebears were nearly disintegrated as the were cast aside like an unwanted child's toy. Her wounds...her wounds.... Her wounds were frozen in time...what am I?... Angel was assaulted. It's not her fault, but she is a monster now. Chunks of her athletic body...gone. Her pride...gone. Half of her face...gone. Half of her soul...gone... _________________________________________________________ Angle signed a contract with a devil. She hates the imp and wants to hunt him and kill him. She has gained powers from the devil (mainly hellish rebuke that continues to shield her from harm). Although she is still an accomplished hunter, she is permanently disfigured. It's the ultimate "you are what you hate" scenario. She is missing her nose, a cheek, a tricep, and most of her left calf. Eating and drinking is awkward. She is embarrassed to uncover her face, let alone eat or drink, in public. She has been humbled to the furthest degree on life. She speaks low and soft. Although she's likely the best shooter in town... she is shy. Angel never returned to the Circle of Land, her crush, her brother, her sister...her parents. She is too ashamed. They would all hate and reject her anyway... She left the wood and wondered to Mirabar. She has established herself in the orphanage. She is a keeper...a mentor of sorts. She hunts for the children. If she is unsuccessful, the children will likely be reminded of what hunger feels like. The children never resent her. They never speak ill tongue. They love her! Angle is where meat comes from.... _______________________________________________________ Angle is a custom race - Half Undead. -Immune to Frightened Condition -Resistant to Charmed Condition -Immune to Sleep Spells or Effects -Angle is "resistant to healing" and will only receive half HP restoration from spells, potions, etc. Rest and sleep are unaffected by this trait and are treated as normal.
Angel’s backstory. Note I never named the devil or the imp. I left a lot of open ends for the DM. This was a character I generated for a long campaign. She started as a lvl 1ranger lvl1 warlock.
I might be starting up a heavily Viking/Nordic-flavored campaign, so I'm considering a warlock and having as my patron... Grendel's mom
My character grew up in a small fishing village on the shores of a lake. The island in the center of the lake has a haunted, cursed reputation, and no one went near it, a decision made easier by the fact that it was normally enshrouded in fog
One day, I thought I heard someone calling for help from the island, so I rowed over. The fog lifted enough for me to make a landing, but when I set foot on it all I could hear was muffled sobbing. I traced the sound to a hole, going straight down into the island. I called down asking if the person needed help, and heard a woman's voice answer that all her children were lost, and slain. I asked again if there was any way I could help her, and got the response, "Avenge them. Be my champion." Then the whole world seemed to shake and I blacked out
When I came to, I scrambled back to my boat and headed for home in terror. Apparently, I had been gone for three days, and when I returned the village was under attack. I discovered my new abilities in the battle, but once it was over I was cast out -- I had been seen rowing towards the island, and everyone assumed I was now cursed as well, or in league with evil forces. Maybe the attack was even punishment for me visiting the island
I set out into the world to try and figure out what was happening to me, and who I was supposed to be avenging, exactly
Big decision right now is whether I go Hexblade, Undead or Fathomless, since any would fit
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Heres one for a character I made for a campaign that went nowhere years ago. PC was captured by a necromatic cult who razed his town and was about to be scarifised until he was able to escape durring a ritual going wrong. On his way out he grabed a talisman off a dead cultist and shortly after started hearing the voice of a kid in his dreams. Turns out the talisman had a soul inside it, a kid killed in the ritual he was gonna be used for. After talking they made a kind of deal, they would do their best to stop whatever was left of the cult then they would be able to go on and live the life he never got to live and that is how the warlock pact was made. Most of his warlock spells would be childish to a degree and geting to roleplay two personalties in one body can be fun.
The Undead subclass was originally available in the DMG for a reason. It is wildly OP for a PC. It also is going to be an evil based char, regardless of how someone tries to spin it. As a DM, I do not allow any player to even think about it, but it most certainly makes a fearsome NPC.
So, players should not even be asking this question. DM's, sure. In that case, the usual suspects all work. Vampires, Lich's, Demi-Lich's, Death Knights, etc. Standard story is the NPC finds an ancient tome, that gives you arcane knowledge, or leads the NPC to a particular crypt, where it meet its patron. The NPC has a choice: serve or die. But the NPC knew that heading in. Acting as the proxy in the outside world for a Lich is go to trope.
I had a character in an online game who was a proxy for Acererak the Archlich. He never really got to do much though. I might use him again if I ever run Tomb of Annihilation again with a new group.
So, players should not even be asking this question. DM's, sure.
That may be true for YOUR games, but a lot of DMs allow this kind of thing. I allow my players to play any official content character that will be fun for them . It's my job to make the encounters challenging.
The Undead subclass was originally available in the DMG for a reason. It is wildly OP for a PC. It also is going to be an evil based char, regardless of how someone tries to spin it.
My current Undead warlock is a halfling who found a wand that houses the ghost of its former archmage owner and now comically bumbles his way through pretending to be a "wizard", when anyone with any knowledge of Arcana can see immediately he isn't. If anyone asks, he tries to pass his Form of Dread off as a spell his "teacher" invented called Shadow Shroud, and he calls his eldritch blast a "frosty ray" because it looks kind of blue-ish. Just got to third level, so now he has Pact of the Tome and Book of Ancient Secrets, giving him enough "normal" wizard spells and cantrips that the panicked ruse (because he still really has no clue what's going on) is at least semi-plausible if he ever gets called on it
I also don't know where you're getting "wildly OP" from, unless your point of comparison is the Undying patron, which if anything is underpowered
I mean, just look at this poor guy. Evil? Hardly
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
The Undead subclass was originally available in the DMG for a reason. It is wildly OP for a PC. It also is going to be an evil based char, regardless of how someone tries to spin it.
My current Undead warlock is a halfling who found a wand that houses the ghost of its former archmage owner and now comically bumbles his way through pretending to be a "wizard", when anyone with any knowledge of Arcana can see immediately he isn't. If anyone asks, he tries to pass his Form of Dread off as a spell his "teacher" invented called Shadow Shroud, and he calls his eldritch blast a "frosty ray" because it looks kind of blue-ish. Just got to third level, so now he has Pact of the Tome and Book of Ancient Secrets, giving him enough "normal" wizard spells and cantrips that the panicked ruse (because he still really has no clue what's going on) is at least semi-plausible if he ever gets called on it
I also don't know where you're getting "wildly OP" from, unless your point of comparison is the Undying patron, which if anything is underpowered
So, players should not even be asking this question. DM's, sure.
That may be true for YOUR games, but a lot of DMs allow this kind of thing. I allow my players to play any official content character that will be fun for them . It's my job to make the encounters challenging.
If "fun" for a player means playing a potentially game-breaking class, that player should really have a hard look at their concept of "fun". And that is BEFORE considering playing a most certainly evil char.
"Fun" is subjective. You are not the fun police. You don't get to dictate what players should and shouldn't be doing. And again, there is nothing inherently wrong with playing evil PCs. YOU may not allow it, but the point of this thread wasn't for you to tell OP that they shouldn't be building a certain character.
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Exactly what the title says.
Big-name liches are always an option…Acererak, Vecna, Valindra Shadowmantle…
I’ve always been interested in Larloch, personally…he has an amusing history.
Likewise, maybe a dracolich is your patron…and while the final version of Undead Warlock doesn’t mention him, Strahd is a viable patron for vampires.
Szazz Tam is a lich who represents a Red Wizard of Thay…such a warlock would make a decent spy for him.
Any extremely powerful vampire or lich (or possibly even mummy lord) could serve as a patron.
Personally I like the idea of a lich being a patron, preferably one who has little to no ability to act physically. You apprentice under them so long as you're fulfilling your patron's wishes, be it finding the means to re-open their imprisoned/entomed phylactery, maintaining their lair (general housekeeping such as setting traps, allowing cobwebs to spread, casting Thunderwave to scare villagers within 300ft., etc.), and/or eliminating rivals and stealing their tomes and other magical artefacts.
A vampire patron could be fairly straight forward: you're cattle, but you're cattle which shows promise. You let them feed upon you, or people you direct to the vampire (perhaps using that high Charisma stat....), and in return they bestow upon you powers.
As @PenelopeTheWeaver suggests, a mummy lord seems like a good choice too. It goes hand in hand with the Archeologist background, and being bound to their service for disturbing their eternal slumber (or being their eyes and ears while they remain in their tomb.)
I believe that the thing about undead entities like these, as opposed to the 'core' three in the Player's Handbook, is that they might get paranoid as you advance in power. What happens when the student is ready to surpass the master? This could lead to a (perhaps unexpected, if your patron takes initiative) showdown with your patron, and should you survive, you might be able to use their power to become your own patron (see Vampire: The Masquerade's 'diablerie'), or enslave them. This would probably be DM dependent, so maybe run it by them when you're nearing demigod/god levels.
This is just a general look at a subclass I'm not overly familiar with, so do forgive the discrepancies. I hope it serves as a modicum of inspiration, but you'd need to do your own digging (maybe literally in your character's case).
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Just to go a little left field with it, why go for the powerful types?
I have always liked the Allip from Mordenkainens Tome of Foes, its only a CR5 undead but the fluff of it is that it was a creature that stumbled upon a powerful secret and was cursed, it now goes around trying to relieve itself of the curse by sharing secrets and knowledge. So perhapsthe Allip was in life a powerful caster of some description and the Warlock is just some unlucky soul that stumbled upon the Allip and has been imparted with some of its previous magical knowledge/secrets which manifest as spell casting and invocations.The Allip watches from the Shadowfell and every time the Warlock levels up you could have hte Allip manifest out of the Warlocks shadow, whisper in the Warlocks ear and then disappear again. THis could give a good spooky vibe and give the DM some interesting options to play with.
Your patron is a wizard who was too wrapped up in their studies and experiments to notice that they'd died of old age. Your arcane focus was their arcane focus, and when you found it their spirit appeared and began bossing you around as though you were some new apprentice, but they begrudgingly "teach" you things now and then that don't really make any sense but somehow manifest as new spells and abilities anyway. Necrotic energy leaks out of the focus, causing your Form of Dread and such, and while sometimes you think you're simply a wizard with an unconventional mentor, at other times you admit to yourself most of your powers aren't actually "magic" in the traditional, learn-it-from-a-book sense. Their demands are bizarre and random, and usually seem tied to fetching components or materials for some experiment that half the time they've forgotten about once you do acquire them.
You don't know what would happen if they realized they were deceased -- would they move on to the afterlife and take your powers with them? Would they get angry and try to punish the messenger? Would they accept it and embrace their new existence? You're afraid to find out.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Your patron doesn't need to actually be undead. For example, your patron could be Orcus, but you're getting Undead benefits from him, rather than Fiend. Myrkul is at the bottom rank of deity, but could certainly provide benefits along these lines, rather than supporting a cleric.
So I've had an idea for a warlock that maybe I'll play in some future campaign, maybe.
So he's from some far off society similar in culture to ancient Egypt. He was a servant of the Pharaoh. Nothing high level, just maybe a scribe or a guard or something. Well, the Pharaoh had ambitions to become a Mummy Lord after his death. And he succeeded. But that was a looooong time ago. The Mummy Lord has long since been entombed, and many of his servants - including our plucky little PC - were embalmed and entombed with him to continue to serve him in death. Centuries later some grave robbers discovered this ancient forgotten tomb and stole some shiny relics and such. So the Mummy Lord awakened some of his servants, gifted each of them with certain powers, and sent them out into the world to find the shinies, to return the shinies, and to kill the thieves.
So that explains why he is now wandering around the world. That gives him a clear motivation. And maybe the DM can tie it into the campaign by assuming that some of the shinies were stolen for - or ended up in the hoard of - the BBEG of the campaign. When the warlock assumes his "Form of Dread", his skin looks very sunken and desiccated, and his clothing appears like old dry torn wrappings of cloth, like those used in his embalming.
Maybe someday I'll get to play him. We'll see.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Baelnorn Liches. Be good.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Baelnorn_lich
Is that how it's spelled? We have an Undying Warlock (basically just a vastly inferior version of the Undead subclass) in my current campaign, and in my notes I have his name written as "Larlock". I'm not sure how closely my DM is playing him to the established lore or if she just took the name and wrote her own character around it... I've deliberately avoided looking up information about him because I want to avoid metagaming. Anyway, it's been a very interesting dynamic to observe between the Warlock and her patron, and the growing conflict between the two has become a central part of the story, and we're not totally sure or not but he might just straight up be the final boss of our campaign.
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Yup, that’s the spelling.
He’s a very effective lich…not as egomaniacal as, say, Vecna or Acererak…but more subtle.
He is also quite respectful of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra…even apologizing to her when one of his experiments got out of hand.
There is always Vlaakith, Lich Queen of the Githyanki as well who could be a good patron for the adventuring sort. You wouldn;t necassarily need to be a Githyanki, you might just be someone captured in a Githyanki raid into the material plane and now serve as more of a spy or agent, or if you want to be Githyanki then maybe you are trying to recover, or earn the right to wield, a Githyanki Silver Sword.
At the age of 15, Angel began hunting for the Circle. The circle is composed of mostly Druids, but does contain some Ranger types. She caught on quickly and was a very well respected hunter. She significantly helped sustain the entire Circle with meat. At the Age of 18, and because she was such an exceptional hunter, she was invited into the Ranger ranks within the Circle. It was her proudest moment. She has two loving parents, a brother, a sister, and a crush on the boy next door. Life was perfect...was.... Her circle considerers the undead and weres abominations. Werewolf, werebear, wereboar, werebat...you name it. You're either a wolf....or you are humanoid...not both, and sure as shit not both at the same time. Her Circle also considers the undead "freaks of nature" and that they should be destroyed. Her first "mission" as a Ranger was to scout. Simply go out into the wild...watch...observe...report back. Angel started tracking what she thought was a werebear...It's a big werebear (the excitement grew)...there are two werebears...hot damn!, she's tracking a pod now! She's surprisingly knocked to the ground...on her back...defenseless. Her bow is just an anchor...it's in the way. The fight for her life has begun. The werebears coordinated their assault...tearing flesh from bone. Consuming her body as if a frantic last meal. One latched on to her face. They exchanged breath. She tasted her own blood. She began to drown in saliva and mucus. In her most desperate hour of existence...time stopped...the pain subsided...and the...the... Who are you?... An imp appeared. Reddish burnt skin, lumbering nose, pointed ears, pointed tail, pointed...everything.... The imp briefly introduced himself. All she remembered is that it stated with a "G". (OH!, she will know him when she sees him again!) The imp offered a contract. Make the pain stop. Make the carnage stop. Make the loss of flesh stop. Make everything stop and exact immediate revenge on your aggressors...RIGHT NOW!....but for only a small price to pay... Tit...for tat... My lord saves you...you do him a favor one day...whatever...whenever..., the imp read... The imp hastily read over the contract and offered the quill... Sign, or die... The imp began counting down as if he controlled time himself. The imp allowed a second of time to pass to remind Angel of the pain. THE IMP IS A PAWN! He's not controlling this! BUT!, he holds the one piece of parchment that does. Angel took the quill, signed her name, and closed her eyes as if bracing for impact. Her body became rigid with anticipation. It didn't take long... The most hellish rebuke ever witnessed flowed through her wounds. The werebears were nearly disintegrated as the were cast aside like an unwanted child's toy. Her wounds...her wounds.... Her wounds were frozen in time...what am I?... Angel was assaulted. It's not her fault, but she is a monster now. Chunks of her athletic body...gone. Her pride...gone. Half of her face...gone. Half of her soul...gone... _________________________________________________________ Angle signed a contract with a devil. She hates the imp and wants to hunt him and kill him. She has gained powers from the devil (mainly hellish rebuke that continues to shield her from harm). Although she is still an accomplished hunter, she is permanently disfigured. It's the ultimate "you are what you hate" scenario. She is missing her nose, a cheek, a tricep, and most of her left calf. Eating and drinking is awkward. She is embarrassed to uncover her face, let alone eat or drink, in public. She has been humbled to the furthest degree on life. She speaks low and soft. Although she's likely the best shooter in town... she is shy. Angel never returned to the Circle of Land, her crush, her brother, her sister...her parents. She is too ashamed. They would all hate and reject her anyway... She left the wood and wondered to Mirabar. She has established herself in the orphanage. She is a keeper...a mentor of sorts. She hunts for the children. If she is unsuccessful, the children will likely be reminded of what hunger feels like. The children never resent her. They never speak ill tongue. They love her! Angle is where meat comes from.... _______________________________________________________ Angle is a custom race - Half Undead. -Immune to Frightened Condition -Resistant to Charmed Condition -Immune to Sleep Spells or Effects -Angle is "resistant to healing" and will only receive half HP restoration from spells, potions, etc. Rest and sleep are unaffected by this trait and are treated as normal.
Angel’s backstory. Note I never named the devil or the imp. I left a lot of open ends for the DM. This was a character I generated for a long campaign. She started as a lvl 1ranger lvl1 warlock.
I might be starting up a heavily Viking/Nordic-flavored campaign, so I'm considering a warlock and having as my patron... Grendel's mom
My character grew up in a small fishing village on the shores of a lake. The island in the center of the lake has a haunted, cursed reputation, and no one went near it, a decision made easier by the fact that it was normally enshrouded in fog
One day, I thought I heard someone calling for help from the island, so I rowed over. The fog lifted enough for me to make a landing, but when I set foot on it all I could hear was muffled sobbing. I traced the sound to a hole, going straight down into the island. I called down asking if the person needed help, and heard a woman's voice answer that all her children were lost, and slain. I asked again if there was any way I could help her, and got the response, "Avenge them. Be my champion." Then the whole world seemed to shake and I blacked out
When I came to, I scrambled back to my boat and headed for home in terror. Apparently, I had been gone for three days, and when I returned the village was under attack. I discovered my new abilities in the battle, but once it was over I was cast out -- I had been seen rowing towards the island, and everyone assumed I was now cursed as well, or in league with evil forces. Maybe the attack was even punishment for me visiting the island
I set out into the world to try and figure out what was happening to me, and who I was supposed to be avenging, exactly
Big decision right now is whether I go Hexblade, Undead or Fathomless, since any would fit
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Heres one for a character I made for a campaign that went nowhere years ago. PC was captured by a necromatic cult who razed his town and was about to be scarifised until he was able to escape durring a ritual going wrong. On his way out he grabed a talisman off a dead cultist and shortly after started hearing the voice of a kid in his dreams. Turns out the talisman had a soul inside it, a kid killed in the ritual he was gonna be used for. After talking they made a kind of deal, they would do their best to stop whatever was left of the cult then they would be able to go on and live the life he never got to live and that is how the warlock pact was made. Most of his warlock spells would be childish to a degree and geting to roleplay two personalties in one body can be fun.
I had a character in an online game who was a proxy for Acererak the Archlich. He never really got to do much though. I might use him again if I ever run Tomb of Annihilation again with a new group.
That may be true for YOUR games, but a lot of DMs allow this kind of thing. I allow my players to play any official content character that will be fun for them . It's my job to make the encounters challenging.
My current Undead warlock is a halfling who found a wand that houses the ghost of its former archmage owner and now comically bumbles his way through pretending to be a "wizard", when anyone with any knowledge of Arcana can see immediately he isn't. If anyone asks, he tries to pass his Form of Dread off as a spell his "teacher" invented called Shadow Shroud, and he calls his eldritch blast a "frosty ray" because it looks kind of blue-ish. Just got to third level, so now he has Pact of the Tome and Book of Ancient Secrets, giving him enough "normal" wizard spells and cantrips that the panicked ruse (because he still really has no clue what's going on) is at least semi-plausible if he ever gets called on it
I also don't know where you're getting "wildly OP" from, unless your point of comparison is the Undying patron, which if anything is underpowered
I mean, just look at this poor guy. Evil? Hardly
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
😂😂😂😂
"Fun" is subjective. You are not the fun police. You don't get to dictate what players should and shouldn't be doing. And again, there is nothing inherently wrong with playing evil PCs. YOU may not allow it, but the point of this thread wasn't for you to tell OP that they shouldn't be building a certain character.